The Marvel Cinematic Universe was a risky proposition at one point, as something of its sheer scale and proportion had never been done before. Mainstream audiences of the late aughts weren't especially up on Iron Man, or convinced a Captain America movie could work, and were geared toward darker comic book material like Batman, delivered courtesy of competitor DC Comics.

A decade later, the MCU has made nearly $6 billion, is a globally known entity, and is will wrap up Phase 3 of its über-story a year after Avengers: Infinity War, in May2019. Phase 4, according to directors Joe and Anthony Russo, will dramatically change gears from what we’ve come to know and love.

Speaking to Yahoo! Movies, the Russo Brothers were adamant the third Avengers, originally referred to as part one of a two-part Infinity War tale, will be a self-contained story that prioritizes its own narrative above the task of setting up future films. When asked if the title of follow-up Avengers4 will be revealed in Infinity War, Joe made sure to clear some things up.

“No, no,” he said. “It’s going to be quite a long while before people see that title. We need people to see this movie, digest this movie, and then we can tell them what the next story is they’re going to see." He went on to add: It’s a complete story. It’s got a beginning, middle, and an end and the next movie has a beginning, middle, and an end, in the same way that Civil War handed off to Infinity War and Infinity War will hand off to the next movie.”

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In regards to the follow-up, scheduled for May 3, 2019, there’s obviously a connection—but Joe reiterates his desire to keep things contained. “It’s serialized storytelling without question so there is going to be a correlation, narratively, but we really wanted to make two distinct movies. We weren’t interested in making one long film and getting out the scissors and cutting it in half. We don’t find that a satisfying cinematic experience so this is a complete story, that’s a complete story, and they’re very different movies.”

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Since 2019’s untitled Avengers film will mark the end of an era and allow Phase 4 of the MCU to begin, audiences are curious as to just how different things will be. According to Anthony Russo, the answer is “pretty drastic,” with Joe Russo elaborating more clearly. “I think massively different,” Joe Russo said. “I think that this is if Marvel has been writing a book for 10 years, it’s the end of the book and someone is going to write a new book. Who knows what the book will be but this is an ending and that’ll be a new beginning.”

We’re rapidly approaching Avengers Infinity War, which in turn means we’re rapidly approaching the finale of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. It’s hard to believe at one point this whole endeavor was considered a major risk, with a spotlight on heroes who weren’t considered mainstream and an interconnectivity between films that hasn’t been done before. Now, Kevin Feige’s big gamble is about to both pay off and come full circle with a story that wraps up a lot of the character arcs that began a whole ass 10 years ago.

Of course as we all know, Feige plots the MCU in phases. Phase 1 was Iron Man thru the first Avengers movie, Phase 2 was Iron Man 3 thru Ant-Man. Phase 3 has been the biggest slate yet, starting with Civil War and slated to end on next year’s Avengers film with the idea that Infinity War and the still untitled film will function as a two-parter.

Phase 3’s conclusion will feel bigger though, because it’ll wrap up several if not all of the story lines that we’ve been in since 2008. Some actors deals are set to expire, meaning some main characters might die at Thanos hands. And even for those that make it through, Feige has been preparing us for a Phase 4 that feels drastically different from the Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Thor and co. adventures we’ve grown accustomed to.

But we can’t get ahead of ourselves, we still have to get thru Infinity War first. Speaking to Yahoo! Movies, Infinity War directors the Russo Brothers were adamant that Infinity War will still be a self-contained story that prioritizes its own narrative above the task of setting up future films. When asked if the title of Avengers 4 will be revealed in Infinity War, Joe Russo made sure to clear some things up.

“It’s going to be quite a long while before people see that title. We need people to see this movie, digest this movie, and then we can tell them what the next story is they’re going to see. It’s a complete story. It’s got a beginning, middle, and an end and the next movie has a beginning, middle, and an end, in the same way that Civil War handed off to Infinity War and Infinity War will hand off to the next movie.”

It’s interesting that they’re being reticent to treat this as a two-parter, considering that’s how most of us see it. Joe defended the decision to hold off on Avengers 4 details more.

“It’s serialized storytelling without question so there is going to be a correlation, narratively, but we really wanted to make two distinct movies. We weren’t interested in making one long film and getting out the scissors and cutting it in half. We don’t find that a satisfying cinematic experience so this is a complete story, that’s a complete story, and they’re very different movies.”

Regardless, the Russos acknowledged that next year’s Avengers 4 will indeed be a quote “drastic” finale, as Anthony Russo described it. Joe Russo elaborated that it’s best to think of these past 10 years of Marvel as a book, and next year will be the ending of that book. Whatever follows will be something entirely new. One thing’s for certain. No matter who’s writing it, Marvel’s gonna run this Hollywood shit for another 10 years easily. Only 10 more days til Infinity War.

That’s all for now. For the latest on Marvel keep it locked right here to Complex News on Youtube. For Complex, I’m Frazier.

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